Irvine, CA (Marketwired). Fabless power semiconductor company Helix Semiconductors has announced sampling of the HS200—a DC/DC power IC that converts 48 V to low voltages. The new IC offers greater than 97% efficiency at 2.6 W and greater than 90% efficiency at 15 W. The HS200 is the latest addition to the eMpower family, joining the HS100—an AC/DC chipset that Helix Semiconductors announced earlier this year.
Leaders in the power supply industry have recognized the global importance of reducing wasted power and have adopted a goal of “Zero Power”—with power efficiency of less than or equal to 5 mW when devices are in standby mode. Zero Power has quickly become the gold standard for efficient power supplies, yet few can meet it, the company said. The no-load power of the HS200 consumes only 0.5 mW. Based on Helix Semiconductors’ patented MuxCapacitor voltage-reduction technology, the HS200 features a unique three-stage process, each of which divides its input in half. Power can be pulled from any of its three outputs simultaneously up to 15 W. MuxCapacitor enables the HS200 to achieve high-efficiency and to stay nearly flat from full load down to 5% load.
According to Harold A. Blomquist, president and CEO of Helix Semiconductors, “The launch of the HS200 DC/DC device represents a significant milestone in the history of Helix Semiconductors. Today, we serve everything from mobile computing, mobile communications, and consumer electronics to IoT, industrial IoT, and electronic vehicles. This equates to a total available market of 3 billion devices worldwide. Our goal is to continue to push the envelope to bring true Zero Power to any device that uses a power supply.”
Target applications for the HS200 include Power over Ethernet products such as wireless access points, security cameras, IoT gateways, and VoIP phones—as well as 48-V input telecom and datacenter blades and electric and hybrid vehicles. The HS200 also targets products with 24V inputs, such as HVAC systems and industrial controllers. In fact, the device is flexible and can perform voltage conversions on input voltage ranging from 12 V to 48 V with output voltage as low as 1.5 V.
With the HS100 and HS200, Helix Semiconductors said it is answering the demand for energy-efficient power ICs in the burgeoning AC/DC and DC/DC markets. Next up is the HS110, the company’s AC/DC 0.18-micron chipset, which targets 65 W for laptops, tablets, and smartphone adapters. In addition, Helix Semiconductors is collaborating with testing companies such as global independent safety science company Underwriters Laboratories. This collaboration will use capacitive isolation to provide 3 kV of isolation without a transformer, which will enable new form factors and eliminate the largest component on an AC/DC power supply.
Helix Semiconductors recently demonstrated its technology to a number of Tier One power-supply OEMs. HS200 evaluation boards are being offered in three configurations: single 12-V output, triple 24-V/12-V/6-V outputs, and a regulated 5-V output. Each evaluation board is self-contained and ready for use. Wiring diagrams, schematics, BOM, and Gerber files are provided.